Lionel Carter's card columns in Sport Fan, 1955-57

[vthobby]

Mr. Carter seemed pretty "grumpy" about the 1933 Goudey Lajoie card! "Jefferson Burdick, Goudey supplied "Mr. Card Collector with a few copies" Amazing!

Awesome material and thanks for sharing!

Peace, Mike

[Piratedogcardshows]

Great stuff David. Its always fun reading these. Thank you.

[TCMA]

Just scanned through a bit but I'll read the whole thing later on. Interesting that Carter mentions only 5 Wagners were known to exist at that point and it was a $50 card.

[brian1961]

Thanks, David. I loved reading through Mr. Carter's comments. His writing was always direct and pungent. Why some think he was grumpy is probably because they never knew the man. He was opinionated, true. However, his opinions carried a great deal of weight; he knew of which he was writing. He really was a founding father of our hobby, from a journalism point of view. As such, he guarded our hobby as a pit bulldog, and was never afraid to speak out against something, or someone, who was out of line and veering to the left. A true Chicagoan, though he resided in the nearby suburb of Evanston, Illinois.

Any comments from Lionel Carter on regional baseball cards, David?

I loved Buck Barker labeling collectors who mounted their cards as "MOUNTIES". That was a hoot. I guess that extends to us who have had our cherished cards graded; as such, we are "MOUNTIES". I love it.

I salute Lionel Carter and Buck Barker, and while we're at it, SPORT FAN publisher, Bob Jasperson. Three fabulous gentlemen who befriended and helped young collectors such as I when we were just starting out in the adult collecting hobby.

Best regards, David. ---Brian Powell

[trdcrdkid]

Brian -- although Carter mainly wrote about national issues, he did sometimes write about regionals. In the June 1956 Sport Fan he had a "Card Notes" item which discussed Johnston Cookie cards, in addition to 1956 Topps high numbers. I think his overview of the 1958 baseball card issues in Sport Fan, which I'll probably post at some point, discusses some of that year's regionals.

[Stonepony]

Are there many surviving 1915 Cracker Jack Albums he mentioned?
I know Sotheby's sold an album with complete set awhile back..

[tiger8mush]

neat stuff, thanks for sharing!